What a difference a day makes

It's been hot and so humid here for some time now it was a real shock today to go outside. I forgot what nice weather was like - it actually felt cold to me and that's scary because this is my ideal temperature. The high today was 74° and a nice cool breeze. I should have changed from shorts to jeans, that would have helped. But that's just crazy talk for this time of year.

After Julie left for work today Rosco (our dog) decided it was time to get up. I usually sleep until Grace wakes up but not today as he had to go out. So I was up at 6:20 this morning and it was nice to relax and read before Grace got up, but I'm really tired! I'm not used to getting up early any more. Grace got up around 8:00 and she didn't want breakfast until 10:00 or so I think. But she did eat a good breakfast when we finally had it and then "A" came over. Julie's sister called and wanted to have lunch with us today so we all went to Panera Bread for lunch. There was a little "excitement" there as we were eating the police came and ticketed a car that was parked in a handicapped spot without a placard in the window or a plate. It was interesting to watch. There were two squad cars one parked behind the "offending" vehicle and another was writing the ticket out. Once they were done the one that was parked behind took a picture of the back of the car aiming at what looked like the license plate.

We tried to stick around long enough to see who's car it was, but Grace was getting tired of waiting so we left. Interestingly most of the people that were in the restaurant while we were eating had left so who knows who's car it was. They might not have even been there. After that we ran over to Office Depot and got some self-stick fasteners for file folders. I couldn't believe that the smallest package you could buy them in was 100 pieces. I'll have those for the rest of my life. Also picked up an optical mouse for my experimental "server" for only $5. And I grabbed the smallest package they had of DVD-RW's so I could experiment with them in my DVD recorder. Not sure how well those really work.

After that we came back home and Grace wanted to play outside but like I said it actually felt cold with the wind, so "A" wasn't too keen on the whole idea. After Julie came home I convinced her to go out to eat for dinner at Culvers. One of her other sisters called and mentioned that portions of their proceeds today were going to the Relay for Life/American Cancer Society. So we were just doing our part and helping out. We actually met Julie's sister and her family there, and our neighbors from across the street met us there later for dessert.

We were going to watch the movie "Citizen Kane" tonight as it's due at Blockbuster tomorrow but Grace wasn't cooperating too well to get in bed easily for Julie tonight, so we didn't really have time. Not sure what I should do; just be late since there aren't any "late fees" any more or just take it back. We can always rent it again.

So as you can see from my other post today I haven't heard anything from Libertyville Lincoln Mercury or Lisa Madigan's office about our complaint and I'm tired of waiting. I did finally hear from our credit card company yesterday or the day before that they are still reviewing the case and haven't made any determinations. I called the representative from Lisa Madigan's office again today and her voice mail again said she was out of the office. Maybe I should leave a message every time I call, but I don't want to be a pest they are helping me after all; at least I think they are.

I talked to the Ford store where we ordered our Escape from and our salesperson said that she thinks she knows why our order is taking so long. Apparently taxi companies in New York are using the Escape Hybrids and they've ordered a boatload of them. So of course these taxi companies take precedence over the "average consumer." Which really sucks because we really wanted to take this new car on vacation because it'll have a navigation system and it gets great fuel mileage (not as good on the highway as the city, but still better than any other car we've owned recently.) She said to pretty much plan on taking Julie's car to Colorado and if this one is in before we leave it will be a pleasant surprise. So that's what I'm going to do and that is usually my philosophy, but we've just been waiting so long for this darn car that I'm tired of waiting.

I asked if there was a way I could pick up the car from the factory and avoid the whole delivery time frame after the car has been built. She said absolutely not. But I know I've read somewhere before that some customers have done that. I'm thinking there is a way around that. Maybe it's more of a dealership policy that they want to take physical possession of the car so they can sell it, like they wouldn't trust me with it until I've paid for it or something; who knows. Obviously I'd be willing to do all the paperwork before I actually took possession.

On a lighter note, a blog reader suggested I look into myfantasyleague.com as an option for our Fantasy Football league this year. We have looked into that site in previous years when we were considering changing, but we weren't impressed at that time. I have to say after creating our league today on their site I'm very impressed with the number of customization options available. Thanks for telling me to check them out again. I'll bring it to every one else's attention in our league and see which one they prefer.

DirecTV Version 2.0

Grace slept in today again and so we didn't go out today like I thought we might. I was considering going on a bike ride, but we ended up not having time anyway. Right after breakfast the DirecTV installer called and asked if he could come early. I said no problem and he showed up before lunch.

We got our new receiver (DVR Plus Model R15) and to some extent I'm not all that disappointed, but it's not as good overall as the old receiver. Tivo really is the best in my opinion. It's called a dual-tuner receiver and indeed you can record two things at once, but you can't switch between the two shows like you could on the old receiver (Hughes model DVR80.) So unless you're recording at least one thing you can't watch two shows. That's irritating! I read online that allegedly they plan to have a software upgrade in the future that will change this, but until or even IF that happens we're stuck without it. One good thing is that you can rewind for 90 minutes instead of only 30 minutes. But like I just said that's only for one show, you don't have two buffers for the two tuners, only one.

Another irritation is that the remote works on the same frequency as the High-Definition receiver and so whenever I turn it off or on or change a channel, etc. it does the same thing on both receivers. I'm certain there is a way around this, but I haven't figured this out yet and the instructions don't tell you anything.

I called the office of Lisa Madigan - the Illinois Attorney General - today to find out the status of our complaint with Libertyville Lincoln Mercury but the person handling it was out. Hopefully they will call back tomorrow. I also called the Ford store today and they need their Edge back, so I'll be dropping it off tomorrow after gymnastics; and yes, I'm getting a Taurus.

On the fun side, a friend of mine called me today and we talked Fantasy Football! I'm so ready for football to start. Bears training camp starts July 27. Unfortunately we'll be in Colorado at that time. But maybe I can convince Julie to stop there on the way home. We'll be practically driving right by it! Anyway, my friend and I were talking about getting things started for this year and possibly using a different server this year to host our league. We've used RTSports for the last two or three years I think and it's not all that special. I think we're going to revert to a site we've used in the past called fanstar. I think my Dad is going to join the league this year, but we still will need at least one more franchise owner.